In spite of its non-aligned history and its tradition of a decades long partnership with Moscow dating back to the 1940s, India’s contemporary foreign policy is a far cry for that of its comparatively recent past. Under Premier Narendra Modi’s BJP, India has begun allowing its historic friendship with Moscow to quietly die while engaging in …
Increased Pakistani dependence on China to help it avert resorting to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to avoid a financial and economic crisis spotlights fears that the terms of Chinese investment in massive Belt and Road-related projects would not pass international muster. Concerns that China’s US$ 50 billion plus investment in Pakistani infrastructure and energy, …
Continue reading Pakistan’s Financial Crisis Puts China’s Belt and Road on the Spot
Iran’s Indian-back port of Chabahar, inaugurated months before the United States re-imposed sanctions on the Islamic republic, is where Asia and the Middle East’s multiple political conflicts and commercial rivalries collide. Chabahar was destined to become a player in geopolitical and economic manoeuvring between China, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and …
Continue reading Iran’s Chabahar Port Is Where Asian and Middle Eastern Rivalries Collide
India’s maximalist position towards the Kashmir Conflict and its resultantly unflinching resistance to CPEC haven’t changed despite New Delhi saying that it has no problem with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank funding that project, as this is nothing more than India playing “hard to get” with America and improving its position before the forthcoming 2+2 …
Continue reading India’s Playing Hard to Get with America by Letting the AIIB Fund CPEC
Pakistan’s war on terrorism: A misunderstood history At an international level, Pakistan’s role in fighting terrorism continues to be not only misunderstood but totally misrepresented. As a perennial victim of both terrorist spillover from the instability of neighbouring Afghanistan and provocations on its soil orchestrated by foreign intelligence agencies including India’s RAW, Pakistan has been …
Iran’s Chabahar Port on the Gulf of Oman represents the crowning achievement of Indo-Iranian cooperation in recent decades. The port itself represents the centre of the wider North-South Transport Corridor (NSTC) which will link India to Russia and the wider north-western Eurasian space via Iran and Azerbaijan. While under Premier Narendra Modi, India has sought to …
The US rejected Russia’s warnings that Daesh is assembling in northern Afghanistan and getting ready to pose a threat to Central Asia. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Oleg Syromolotov drew attention to this threat during a speech in the Tajik capital of Dushanbe earlier this month at the “Countering Terrorism and Preventing Violent Extremism” two-day conference, …
Continue reading America Denying Daesh in Central Asia will Only Strengthen the Golden Ring
Iran has just signed an agreement to enter a three year provisional free trade agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). According to EAEU official Tigran Sargsyan, “The temporary agreement stipulates an effective dispute settlement mechanism, including arbitration… It also creates a joint committee of high-ranking officials and establishes a business dialogue”. The EAEU’s current members …
The International Relations theories about the Balance of Power and Regional Security Complexes don’t sufficiently explain the simultaneous emergence of three distinct but interconnected power blocs in Eurasia, which is why the new concept of “Circling the Wagons” is being proposed to account for it. The end of the Cold War radically changed International Relations …
Continue reading From “Bandwagoning” Against Eurasia to “Circling the Wagons” in the Center of It
